A large Russian gilded silver & shaded cloisonné enamel kovsh, Feodor Rückert, retailed by Ivan Britzin, circa 1899-1908. Of traditional form with hook handle, the exterior enameled with brightly-colored scrolling flowers against a cream ground. The underside with an ornate inscription commemorating two prominent manufacturers & dated 1907. Dimensions: 3 1/4 h x 7 1/2 in. w (8.3 cm x 19 cm).

The inscription on the underside indicates that the impressive enameled kovsh was a gift from the directors of the I.A. Treumov Mill in Kovrov to those of the Pokrovskaya Textile Mill in Ivanovo-Voznesensk. These were two of the largest & most important textile concerns in the early twentieth-century Russia & the managers of the family firms might have been contemplating a joint venture, the fate of which is unclear. The Pokrovskaya Mill, one of the oldest in Russia, continues to work today under the name Samoylovsky Textile as part of the Nordteks group of companies.